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Sunday, November 20, 2011

Goodbye, Dear Friend

I know I said I would post on a regular basis, and I have a lot I want to post about, but a sad event has taken the wind out of my sails. Two weeks ago we lost our good buddy, Bo, a beautiful little mongrel who loved nothing better than to play outside with the kids on cool evenings, then curl up with them for story time before bed. He was quiet and gentle, and we all miss him dearly.

We miss the soggy teddy bears left in the hallway, the dog biscuit crumbs on the couch, and the happy waggy tail that met us whenever we came home.

The kids are taking his loss especially hard. Why did he have to go? And they wondered, like little ones do, what will happen to Bo now that he is gone.

I explained the best I could that Bo was sick, and that his body was tired and it was time for him to leave. It's okay to be sad, but we should remember Bo and talk about all the fun we had with him. This lead to a discussion about all the things that Bo loved, and what he would do in dog heaven.

A friend introduced me to a wonderful book - Dog Heaven by Cynthia Rylant. In the past week, the kids have read it again and again.

Thus starts this colourful book about all the things dogs can do in Dog Heaven. There are biscuits as far as the eye can see, geese to tease, and soft clouds to curl up on. Every dog has a home, and they can stay as long as they want. They will greet old friends when they arrive.

St. John's mom, that is one of the hardest things. My youngest says Bo was her best friend. She went out to play a couple of days ago, but came back inside because it was "too lonely" out there. I had to sneak to the bathroom and cry when she said that.

Helping the kids to understand is hard, especially when we don't really understand ourselves, but it really helps to talk about all the funny things he did.